New Year's Resolution - A Blog Series
Part 10: At my Witt’s End. A Blog on a SWOT Analysis
By Retta Witter, Senior Consultant, J. Geiger Consulting, Inc.
I have looked at MVP and what gear I really need. I have Improved some of my gear but there is still room for improvement to make my hike, which is now only three weeks away. How do I know what the best bang for my buck is to improve the hike? A SWOT analysis. It is especially important that when doing SWOT analysis to be realistic and honest about the items you are discussing. This is not always easy to do.
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”
A SWOT Analysis is used to access your company / department / divisions current position before you decide on a strategy direction or change.
SWOT stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threats. Two of these are internal factors and two are external factors.
Internal factors:
Strengths – anything myself or my group does well.
Weakness – anything myself or my groups does poorly.
External factors:
Opportunities – a factor me or my group may take advantage.
Threats – a factor that may negatively affect myself or my group.
Here is a copy of my SWOT analysis. Remember when you do this to be brief, specific and realistic.
When I was looking at the four parts of the SWOT, it helped me to understand where to put my energy and get some important improvements or mitigate risks.
I will admit that I have never been good at tying quality knots, but I am creative in tying ropes to do what I needed. Because of the issues I had with my underquilt on my prototyping weekend, I realized this needed to change. I have spent many hours practicing tying knots and I am good at remembering one. It is the taut-line hitch and I think I can use that for almost every need that arises. The boy scouts have some good videos for helping learn to do many camping/hiking items.
I have been trying to train for the trip by hiking with my backpack on, at a faster pace than what we plan to hike with. Also, a heavier backpack than I plan to hike with so that when we are going our planned pace and pack weight, it should be easier for my mind and my body. Yesterday was a quick hike with about a 30 lb. backpack and two mile distance, but I did it at a three mile an hour pace.
Training Weight
Have you done a SWOT analysis? What was your biggest challenge? Was the team honest on its strengths and weaknesses?
How do you eat an Elephant? One bite at a time. My goal is to become a thousand miler and walk all of the Ice Age Trail. My first bite was through hiking the Lake Eleven segment. I am training for my first bite. What is my next bite and how do I decide? Flip a coin? Come back next week for Data Data Everywhere, where I will go over decision analysis.